Essendon Football Club is delighted to welcome Irving Mosquito, Noah Gown and Brayden Ham to the Mighty Bombers after the trio was selected by the Club at the 2018 NAB AFL Draft on Friday.

Mosquito was recruited from Gippsland Power with Essendon’s second-round selection (pick 38).

The lifelong Bombers supporter grew up in Halls Creek in Western Australia’s remote Kimberley region, playing football barefoot in the desert before moving to Victoria in 2012.  

The lively forward was a member of Hawthorn’s Next Generation Academy, however the Hawks were unable to match the Bombers’ bid for Mosquito.

GM List and Recruiting Adrian Dodoro said Mosquito would be a long-term prospect for the Essendon Football Club.

“Our team identified Irving for his speed and pressure on ball. He has shown consistency over the past couple of years playing with Gippsland, and his game style aligns with our brand of footy,” Dodoro said.

Watch Mosquito's highlights

“He is a very proud indigenous young man and his pathway and resilience to pursue an AFL football career is to be admired. We value him really highly as a player and fortunately it fell our way today. Our supporters will be excited to see his flair on-field.”

Selected by the Bombers with pick 60, Noah Gown is set to reunite at The Hangar with former Gippsland Power teammate Mosquito. The key forward won the Power’s 2018 best and fairest, finishing the year accumulating an impressive 31 goals.

A highly rated basketballer, Gown juggled his teenage years between the two codes but in 2018 made the decision to solely focus on football, knocking back a scholarship offer from the US from the round-ball sport.  

“Noah will be an exciting key-position player for the Club. He had a terrific second half to the year with Gippsland and is a young man that has a huge upside. We don’t know what his ceiling is yet and that is an exciting prospect,” Dodoro said.

“He is a talented all-rounder, who is a natural, competitive beast and for us getting another tall forward with the capacity to go back was pretty enticing so we’re delighted to welcome him to the red and black."

With pick 72, the Bombers selected Ham who spent 2018 with the Geelong Falcons. The utility’s impressive TAC Cup form saw him invited to this year's NAB Draft Combine, where he ranked elite in both the sprint and endurance tests.

“Brayden will need some time to further develop but he is a 19-year-old that ticks all the boxes as far as speed, agility and endurance,” Dodoro said.

“He has modern-day football traits and uses the ball well so our team were really keen to get him on board. It was a great result.”

This news is brought to you by Orchard HRO, the club's Official Recruitment and List Management Partner.